Mannyrisms

5 Questions with Conor

2011-10-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

5 Questions with Walker Ross

2011-09-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

The Return of 5 Questions!!!

2011-09-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Vlog (8.29.11) Orientation Weekend

2011-08-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

From flying by Mt. Hood to Orientation weekend activities and having a bus breakdown on a Washington freeway. All of those moments have been capture for your viewing pleasure!

DBM Family Reunion and 5 Questions with Joyce/Shirley/Cezar

2011-08-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, the DBM family from Hollywood High School Class of 09 reunited for a few hours spending time at Andre's Italian restaurant, walking through the Grove and watching Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

In addition, I bring to you three new interviews for the 5 Questions series...

5 Questions with Amir (Part II)

2011-08-02T13:17:00.000-07:00

30 Day Challenge Update

2011-08-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

If you have not read this blog post before then you should read it first, before I give you an update: http://mannyrisms.blogspot.com/2011/07/30-days.html

Update:

I'm not going to lie, the 30 Day Letter Challenge has been a bit of a struggle - in particular when I don't have time to write my letter/entry and when I cannot think of anyone to write to who fits certain characteristics.

I have not given up on the challenge though! I have to say that this letter challenge was one of the best ideas I've had because it has definitely given me a lot to think about. While writing some of the entries I have either laughed uncontrollably at some moments I wrote about or broke down midway through some of the letters. No matter the emotion, the letters have shown to me the strong persona I have developed and the people that helped shape my personality and lifestyle.

Today marks the 18th day of the challenge.

Some of you may be wondering where are these letters and I can tell you that most of you will never see them because they are so personal and so outspoken. If they are shared with someone, they will be in a private moment and not written on this blog for the whole world to see simply because they may be personal to me or to the person I am writing to. Sorry to disappoint.

To write these entries it took me from approximately 20 minutes through an hour and a half for each (depending on the depth of the matter).

Although I cannot show you the actual letters, I can tell you a few people that I did address (if your name is on here I may or may not show them to you based on my discretion):
- Parents

- Sister

- Amir

- A Stranger

- My dreams (this one was important btw because I never took the time to write them down and I realized that I actually have a long bucket list which I can hopefully one day complete)

- Vince McMahon

- One of my grandfathers

- Jorge

- Mona

I really suggest that more people take a 30 Day Challenge, it does not have to be a letter challenge like I did but it has so far helped me look back at some of the important memories and questions that linger in my mind. The 30 Day Challenge has definitely helped revitalize me and I can't wait to find out what I do next.

If you have any suggestions for new 30 Day Challenges please tell me!

First Vlog...cause blogging was too much work for me.

2011-08-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

Official Announcement: Personal Fall 2011 Theme Song

2011-07-23T19:23:00.001-07:00

This may be news to you, for others they already know the drill. But usually before a semester begins I designate a theme song for myself to hear throughout the semester.

In the past, theme songs have included Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne "Let it Rock," Tinie Tempah "Written in the Stars" and more. Essentially what happens is that as the semester rolls on I designate a song for that month to express what I'm going through but I don't need to mention all of those.

Here is the important part. For over a month, I have been singing a song and I have officially designated it as my Fall 2011 Theme Song.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: Sam Adams "Watch Out"

_____________

P.S. In case you were wondering, I do assign theme songs for my summer vacations.

For the past two months, the Summer 2011 theme song has been: Cee Lo Green "Bright Lights"

5 Questions with Sam (Part II)

2011-07-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

30 Days

2011-07-16T19:32:00.000-07:00

Inspiration has hit in the form of Matt Cutts, a Google software engineer whose video from a TED conference has resonated with me. The video is below:

(Don't worry its a short video)

Genius! I swear I had an Oprah-like "ah-ha" moment! I want to stop turning back reflecting on the past few days and not remember what I've done. I want to look back feeling accomplished of the work I've done. I don't want time to pass me by.

Here are some ideas taken by Matt Cutts:
* 10,000 steps/day

* Take a picture a day

* No tv for 30 days

* No sugar for 30 days

* No caffeine for 30 days

* No twitter for 30 days
* No Facebook for 30 days

* Being thankful for 30 days

* Learn 30 new words

* Write a novel (November)

* Meditate for 15 minutes/day

* Read a short story every day

* Do an act of kindness every day

* Read the Bible

* Learn as much of a language as possible

* No meat

Hopefully I can get more suggestions but I find this truly fascinating.

The one that I want to start off with though is one that came from another source. The source is 30dayschallenges.net. The challenge is the 30 Day Letter Challenge:

http://30daychallenges.net/challenges/view/30-day-letter-challenge/1

I feel the best way to go about choosing my next challenges are to gather as many suggestions - write them on index cards, put them in a container and choose at random the next challenge. The reasoning for this is to make things more interesting and surprising.

The challenge could wait until the beginning of the month but that would mean I have just wasted another few days of the month.

I would love for any one to join me in similar challenges and please give me any suggestions you might have for the 30 Day Challenge series either on the blog, Facebook, Twitter (@mannthn), or send an owl.

___________

Side note: After finally reading the Harry Potter series (yes, years late I know) I can tell you one thing that I have learned from this series and everyones fascination with it. I get it.

Degrees of Separation

2011-07-07T14:14:00.001-07:00

What?! A written blog and not a vlog? Twist.

So I started thinking a lot about the celebrities that I have met and it has led me to end up playing the Six Degrees of Separation Game.

You can actually play along too with the following people by saying:

I => Know Mannathan => who has met/touched

· Cee Lo Green

· Christina Aguilera

· Jason Sudeikis

· Dia Frampton (Meg & Dia; The Voice)

· George Lopez

· Giuliana Rancic (E! News)

· Wayne Brady

· Tommy Lee

· Guillermo (Jimmy Kimmel Live)

· Dog the Bounty Hunter

· Criss Angel

· WWE Superstars

o John Cena

o Shawn Michaels

o Lita

o Essa Rios

o Hillbilly Jim

o Maria Kanellis

o Paul London and Brian Kendrick

I’m sure I missed some people that I have met but I’m just going by the ones of who I have either a photo or autograph or clearly remember meeting. What’s awesome about the above list is continuing to connect them to other celebs.

The game continues in other ways

I => Know Mannathan => who attended Hollywood High School => where ________ attended

· Brandy

· Carol Burnett

· Cher

· Judy Garland

· Laurence Fishbourne

· Sarah Jessica Parker

· John Ritter

· Mickey Rooney

· Scott Baio

· Debbie Rowe => who married Michael Jackson; mother of Prince and Paris

I => Know Mannathan => who has attended The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson => ANY guest (including Kevin Bacon)

I => Know Mannathan => who has attended Jimmy Kimmel Live => ANY guest

I => Know Mannathan => who has attended The Voice => produced by Mark Burnett => stars of The Voice, The Apprentice, Expedition Impossible, Survivor, etc.

This is what my mind has pretty much been playing all day! Hooray for Six Degrees and my => your connection to celebrities!

Who have you met? That way I can play through you as well!

5 Questions with Mona (Skype)

2011-07-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

Vlog (7.1.11) Blame TLC

2011-07-01T17:35:00.000-07:00

5 Questions with Narek

2011-06-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

5 Questions with Sam

2011-06-20T15:42:00.000-07:00

Vlog 6.17.11 - A message to HS grads

2011-06-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

5 Questions with Michaela (Skype)

2011-06-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

Vlog 6.15.11

2011-06-15T19:00:00.000-07:00

Debut of 5 Questions with: Amir

2011-06-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Vlog 6.9.11

2011-06-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

Vlog (6.3.11)

2011-06-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

Vlog (5.29.11)

2011-05-30T17:29:00.000-07:00

Vlog (5.19.11)

2011-05-19T22:25:00.000-07:00

Vlog (5.14.11)

2011-05-14T21:52:00.000-07:00

Vlog (5.13.11)

2011-05-13T20:49:00.000-07:00

Vlog (5.12.11)

2011-05-13T19:20:00.000-07:00

Human Highlight Reel (October 9 - October 15)

2010-10-16T15:33:00.000-07:00

Friends - for now it is Fall Break which means I have time to play catch up on school work and on this here blog so lets go over a few highlights from my week.

Saturday (10/9)
I have found the holy land of ice cream in the Commons! The ice cream has actually been hidden and placed in the Holy Cross dining room and I was thankfully able to have some on this date. My day began with an invitation to Holy Cross Court at UP (where all the priests and brothers live on-campus), participated in a mass service and had a discussion with all the priests and brothers about vocations and living a religious lifestyle. The discussion was to include pizza but apparently the restaurant forgot (causing a priest to become upset) which led to our lunch in the Holy Cross Dining Room at the Commons. Stuffed myself silly with all of the food in there. Special thanks to Fr. Gerry and Fr. Charlie for the invitation.

Sunday (10/10)
I cant think of a better evening than one with friends and/or family. In this case, I consider it both as I had dinner with Rob, Josh, Nick and John at Christie's Restaurant (sorry Andrew you had to miss out). I had a great Bacon Burger Bad Boy but being that I am a foodie...I wanted dessert and got an apple crumble to go.

Monday (10/11)
The highlight of the day was receiving a Thank You Note from CPB Director Hillary W. after Homecoming week. It really made my day and reminded me of why I love doing all that I do in leadership roles and event planning. Thanks Hillary, I told you this before but I am willing to say it before all that you are doing a fantastic job as CPB Director and I am so happy to be working along your side.

Tuesday (10/12)
Even more good news that cheered me up from CPB Director Hillary! I found out that I will be heading down to Southern California (Ontario,CA) for NACA West Conference. I am so excited to be at the event because last year's conference in Portland was an absolutely amazing experience because I heard from a lot of great talent, learned from various workshops, and met so many people from a large number of colleges. I cannot wait for November 11-14 in California! (Plus, even if I am not in LA itself it is nice to know it is an hour away).
P.S. This was the night I would have loved to go to the Rose Garden in Portland to attend a WWE Smackdown taping but sadly that was not the case : (

Wednesday (10/13)
It's here! Christina Aguilera's Bionic was delivered to Shipstad! I found out while checking my e-mail in Buckley Center but I had to work for Student Activities before making it back to the Ship! Once I was done, I ran straight to the Shipstad Front Desk (sorry Tessa for literally jumping and bouncing off the front desk to sign for my package). At first, the new music style Christina is going for was really strange considering her Back to Basics album was more soulful and reminiscent of the earlier years of jazz and soothing music but I will say that it has been stuck on replay in my iPod for days - and will continue to be until I get sick of it. In the words of the first few lyrics from the single "Bionic": "I'll elevate you so high I'll give you a migraine/ Over and over, put it on replay til you're insane."
Another thank you note...this time from CPB Advisor Jillian! I love receiving these notes because they just remind me of why I love to do all that I do (even though it may seem like madness to some) but I truly do love putting on events and giving students a night of wonderful memories. Thank you Jillian for dealing with me in my times of stress and I promise to work on that as my time with CPB continues. Everyone, you have no idea how much Jillian has done for me (CPB, NACA, getting me a job in Student Activities, etc.) Eternally grateful!
Shipstad sold Voodoo Doughnuts in the Lobby for $1 each and we went through four dozen boxes in about 20 minutes. Thank you Amanda (AHD) for picking up the donuts and Claire for selling them during your front desk shift.

Thursday (10/14)
Finished with midterms and rearranged my room! I love finishing my work and being organized. Best feeling in the world : )
Have you ever had a meeting and a yoga session with the same person? I doubt it. But I can say I have because I went to yoga with my Assistant Hall Director, Amanda, and had a one-on-one meeting with her following the yoga session. Thanks Amanda!
As if Hillary and Jillian had not done enough for me...I am now going to be Dance of the Decades Co-coordinator working with the lovely Sophia and a man I have a lot of respect for Sean! More to come on this event and I cannot wait! January 29, 2011 ---here I come!
In the evening I attended an event called "What is your love language?" put on by the Peer Health Educators at UP and it was a great night which not only included listening to stories but also finding out what I expect in relationships (Amir, my bromance partner, listen up: I apparently enjoy in this order of importance --- Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Physical Touch and receiving gifts)
While attending this event I also found out from my ED workshop leader Jacelyn from this year's Orientation that Kate and Marissa were excited to be mentioned in my blog but that some students were upset to be left out. That was not my intention at all and if you want I will write every single one of your names after our end-of-the-year Workshop party in November. You will have your very own post. I found out in particular that one person felt left out...Tadeu. First of all, Tadeu, we live in Shipstad and yet I rarely see you or do we rarely talk. We need to work on that so you can be mentioned more frequently. But you are now mentioned on the blog : )
Following the Love event I ran back to Shipstad for Jersey Shore and pizza with my fellow wing-mates (thanks Jake for getting the pizza!)

Friday (10/15)
Fall Break begins!
Something that made my day early on was getting a response from an actual WWE superstar - Percy "Paul Bearer" Pringle on Facebook (and yes it really is that person's official Facebook account). The message only makes sense by the way to a WWE fan for a very long time or at least one that watched back in the early 2000s.

I also had a field experience today which was good except for a minor problem...I was starting to get sick and I had a headache so I was zoning in and out but nonetheless had a great time working with students especially the eighth grade history class.
I also had a wonderful dinner with Emilia on this night at the Commons. Great dinner, dessert, and conversation to start Fall Break!

Saturday (10/16)
I am sick and I woke up early to go on the hunt around Portland (including walking up and down Burnside) searching for a Halloween costume but failed. Had to come back because I was getting a huge headache. My original plan was to buy the costume, come back do some homework and attend a concert in BC Aud. but now my plan has scratched out the homework part so that I can recover my strenghth from being sick.

Sorry for the extremely long post...maybe I should just have biweekly posts or maybe this just gives you a good insight into how busy and entertaining my daily life is. Maybe they are just my "Mannyrisms." (You get it...cause...Mannyrisms sounds like mannerisms...and the blog title is...ah!...you got it...its funny cause...."lawl" and that sounds like "lol").

Be blessed my friends!

It's been so long

2010-10-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

I know, the last time I posted something was before Orientation about two months ago.

Really bad at keeping up a blog updated, not like Rick with his 365 Day project.

Anyway, a quick recap of all that has occured in the past two months before I attempt to once again keep updating this blog (at least once a week):

Orientation was fantastic and I remember losing my voice in the middle of the weekend. There are 897 new freshmen (largest freshmen class) and the problem now is that I get so many people saying hi that I have no way to keep track of all the names. But I have met certain freshmen who I just love spending time with from Emilia, Walker, Nick, Kate W., Marissa, and the list can go on and on and on
I have become a Shipstad Hall Council Executive Board Member and the first event we had was Shipstad Daze during Homecoming week (a weeklong dorm pride week) and it was fantastic. I was so busy with Homecoming and school work though that I did not really get to enjoy every day except for the Tuesday night Ice cream eating contest (stomach was in so much pain after eating 3rd floor and 4th floors trough of ice cream) as well as the Thursday night Kareoke/Italian Soda coffeehouse (I broke out some Enrique Iglesias "I Like It"/ Lady Gaga feat. Beyonce "Telephone"/ Christina Aguilera "Lady Marmalade"). But most of Shipstad Daze I was so focused on...
Homecoming was last weekend and there were two different takes:

If people were able to get in: the dance was great! Music was awesome, body heat/sweat was an issue, but overall a great event thanks to my fellow co-coordinators Justine and Kristina as well as our CPB Director Hillary.
If people were turned away or kicked out: tears like you would not believe but honestly I was just doing my job despite the various pleas (some of which broke my heart) and some threats from people. Next time: just buy a ticket like everyone else, that is all.
The negativity of certain people actually drove me to question not only my own ability but my desire to do anything for people such as planning events and taking on so many leadership roles. Although the question sometimes comes to mind whether I do too much is still in mind, I doubt that I will ever quit all of my different leadership roles. It is just in my nature and there is no one who can absolutely break me away from this personal love and passion. I am just born a leader and born to give people the excitement and events that they want to see. I wish to thank all of my friends who have been there for me in support and caring so much but just know that more leadership roles are to come...stress is kind of a given. Just keep giving me support and reminding me of my ability to plan and provide events for all and I will continue to give you a show like you have never seen before.

Last week, was Hell Week for me school-wise because I was still trying to recover from Homecoming but was thrown into the fire with so much school work that I could no longer handle it. I want to thank a few people for their help in getting me through last week:

Claire and Steven (thanks for the ongoing support - love you both)
Starbucks (your pastries and vanilla lattes kept me going throughout the past two weeks - I blame you for my weight gain but I thank you for your sugar and caffeine)
Friends and family for the aid and worry about my health and well-being. Hopefully, I dont give many of you a scare like that again.
God, of course!

To conclude Hell Week, I had a fantastic and relaxing evening off-campus with friends and it was just what the doctor ordered!

Trip to Fred Meyer with Walker (learn a lot about someone when shopping with them)
Dinner with friends whom I have missed spending so much time with Andrew, Nick, Rob, Josh, John at the Taqueria/Burgerville.
"Easy A" with Lara and Claire! (Good movie with a good twist and occassional heart-to-heart moments that were adorable)

Well that is as good a review of the past two months that I can come up with in a few minutes. I wish I could post photos but that would take too long to upload.

A few notes for the future:

I ordered a Christina Aguilera "Bionic" (used) cd and I have been waiting for two weeks! I want it now!
Speaking of Christina, Thanksgiving...I will definitely be at the movies to watch "Burlesque"
Fall Break next week...but a week of mid-terms and papers stand in the way (Hell Week pt. II?)
I miss my best friends (Sam and Amir - I love you both!)
Saddened that WWE will be here on Tuesday but I will save my money to pay for Hall Council things that will be needed soon (i.e. Haunted House)

That is all for now, hope to keep you update from now on!

Be blessed.

Return to Portland

2010-08-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

It is much more difficult than expected to keep up with this blog while back in school so you can most likely expect new posts either weekly or bi-weekly, depending on my availability.

-----------------------

I returned to Portland on Sunday morning, sadly missing my dad's birthday (although we did manage to celebrate it on Saturday night). I left my house at 6 am and made my way to the Burbank Airport. Everything went fine UNTIL TSA said they had to check both of my carry-on bags because there was something suspicious about them. TSA pulled out all of my things and laid it out in front of them over a period of 20 minutes. The whole time I just kept thinking what in the world is in my bags that makes them so suspicious? Turns out they were just thrown off by all the electronics in my backpack and more specifically my plug-in iPod charger.

Eventually I managed to get on my plane and left LA around 8 am and landed in Portland at 10:30 am. After being picked up by my aunt, she took me to The Anchor at UP to check-in. I grabbed my key, left all of my things in my new dorm and then went out with my aunt and uncle to eat at a restaurant called Hong Kong Dim Sum, basically like a lot of chinese vendors on portable meal carts go around a restaurant trying to get you to buy their food. Interesting. After eating and doing some grocery shopping I returned to the dorm and began cleaning and organizing my room (special thanks to Andrew Gustav for helping me with fixing the height of my bed - it's fun because now I have to jump just to get to the top of the bed). Around 6 pm, I realized I needed more supplies and so I walked to the local Fred Meyer. Here is what I did not know: Fred Meyer's no longer offers plastic bags and so I had to carry a full bag of items in a paper bag along with a large bottle of Clorox and Tide. A few blocks away from the Fred Meyers store the paper bag ripped! I had to carry everything from this point back to the school, this took about an hour! Once I returned, I continued with the organization process until the night.

Monday, was the first day of Orientation Training filled with various sessions of information and icebreakers from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm. I was exhausted by the end of the day from attending all of these sessions but I know it was worth it in order for Orientation to run as smoothly as possible. I cant wait for the Freshmen to come on Thursday!

The Ship is very quiet for the time being with a few students with leadership positions and Honor Students here. Today, the hall receptionists are scheduled to return but it is most likely that my wing will remain empty until Thursday. For now, my wing consists of Andrew, Jake Doolittle, and myself.

Meeting Criss Angel...Again

2010-08-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

“It is 10:09 and now the adventure begins.”

These words, spoken by my sister, began a very long day in search for the world renowned illusionist Criss Angel in Los Angeles.

I had obtained tickets to attend a taping of Criss Angel’s performance in the CBS Studios on the corner of Fairfax and Beverly scheduled for today. The time on the ticket indicated that the audience would be let in at 1:30 pm. I left my house along with my “Loyal” sister, name given to all of Criss Angel’s die-hard fans, early in the morning and took an hour bus ride to CBS Television City. We arrived at about 11:30 am and were the 6th and 7th place in the entrance line. Oh, television audience lines, how crazy you can be…

Behind myself and my sister was an old man (hi old man from Buena Park who kept talking about your life story as if it was any interest to me!) and his son along with two of his friends. The kid and their friends had the great idea of making every car that passed by the line honk their horn. Great, exactly what everyone wants to hear when they are forced to stay in line for over an hour – cars honking nonstop. I swear, I would have thrown one of these kids into oncoming traffic. One of the kids, kept saying that he had Justin Bieber hair (he didn’t) and that he kind of sounded like him (as if that was an accomplishment). The old guy’s son was apparently an actor who couldn’t find work because he got braces (I heard his voice, the braces are not the reason). The old guy realized that there was an older woman in a wheelchair now sitting at the very front of the line with her party. He goes over and complains about why she is sitting at the very front and how unfair it is to everyone in line. The lady says she knows and that she is just sitting under some shade in her wheelchair. The old man wont take it and starts yelling that the lady is a “big mouth.” After about half an hour of complaining security tells him to relax and thankfully he did just as we were being let into the studios.

We passed through the metal detectors, surrendered my phone and camera to security, and waited for about an hour on a bench until the staff was ready to let us in to the America’s Got Talent set. We were walked to a stage door and entered the very large soundstage and took our seats in the America’s Got Talent audience. This was a minor wait time again because everyone had to be assigned a seat. Just as everyone took their seats it was announced that we would have to wait some more because the tv crew was out to lunch (understandable). The stage btw is huge with so much lighting – amazing! Center stage was a large square metal (I think) box with stage hands preparing it for the taping.

About twenty minutes later it was almost time to start taping the Criss Angel segment in support of his Cirque de Soleil performance of “BeLIEve.” The Cirque crew taped a few portions of the segment of them wrapping the box with shackles and a large rope as if Criss was inside (reason being so that the cameras could get an up-close view of the action because they would not be allowed on the stage for a reason to be revealed in a bit). Howie Mandel , Sharon Osbourne, and Piers Morgan walked into the studio and took their judge seats to applause and cheers. Minutes later, no one noticed that Nick Cannon was on stage (until he was formally introduced – even then not much of an audience reaction).

Taping time! Nick Cannon introduced Criss Angel. Criss mentioned that the stunts he would perform were from the show BeLIEve and that he would attempt the straitjacket escape hanging upside down…director called for a retake. Nick reintroduced Criss, who talked about Houdini’s strait jacket attempt which he successfully accomplished in five minutes. Criss said he would try to do it in a record 1 minute. Howie, Sharon, and Piers observed the straitjacket and placed Criss inside of it. Criss laid on the floor and was hung by his feet and lifted toward the ceiling. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1. He did it! Criss escaped the straitjacket in one minute! Criss appears to fall from the ceiling and the lights go out! He is in the metallic box and is locked inside. A woman in a black spandex outfit enters the stage, stands on top of the box, and two sets of pyrotechnics occur in a matter of seconds and Criss is no longer in the box but standing in the same spot as the woman, who is now in the box! Fireworks and fire goes off and Criss and his crew take a bow to an absolutely amazing performance! Criss thanks the crowd and leaves. The audience is forced to do a retake of our reaction to the illusion and clap as if Criss was still on stage.

Criss Angel's Live Show BeLIEve (:35-:38 is what I saw live)

My sister and I run out of the soundstage, get our cell phones and cameras, and run toward the bus stop. We know Criss Angel’s next destination…Hollywood and Highland for a taping of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” It is now 4:30 and the Jimmy taping is scheduled for sometime around 6. Our intention was not to be in the crowd for that one but to meet Criss in the parking lot and take a photo and get an autograph behind the soundstage. During this time, we got a message that an impromptu birthday party would be thrown for Abby (yes, Abby from previous posts) at 6 pm. We say we will try to make it but by this time we were on the bus heading to Hollywood and Highland. Once we got off the bus we ran from the bus stop, crossed Highland Blvd., and ran to the back of the Jimmy Kimmel sound stage. I ask the guard if Criss showed up yet, he said no and that there was a line waiting for him as well. My sis and I run to the line and within a few minutes…Criss shows up, makes his way down the line, signs autographs and takes a pic with his fans! The time was now 5:07 pm. So within half an hour we made it from CBS Studios to a different soundstage.

Criss Angel - Mindfreak

The good news: we attended the taping for the Criss Angel performance (my sister’s dream come true), met Criss Angel (for a third time), and had enough time to buy Abby a present and make our way over to her house for food and cake. A great day if I may say so myself = D

Happy 4th Birthday Abby!

One more week...then back to Dorm Life!

2010-08-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

With one more week left before I return to Portland, I think this is the perfect time to introduce everyone to one my favorite shows Dorm Life!

I'm pretty sure I am and can be a combination of Daniel Benjamin and Marshall = D

Enjoy this special treat.

Explaining my obsession with wrestling

2010-08-13T08:41:00.001-07:00

I am a huge wrestling fan...*blank stare*… “Really? Like that WWF type of wrestling? You don’t look like you would be.”

This is the average reaction I receive when I reveal to people that I love watching WWE, TNA, lucha libre, and basically any other wrestling show that is available through the television. I think it may be best to explain where this obsession originated from and maybe that will help you understand why this is so important to me.

In the 1980s and 1990s, professional wrestlers, a.k.a. “superstars,” ranged from a variety of characters. You had larger than life characters such as Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan, an average looking yet tough S.O.B. like Stone Cold Steve Austin, as well as little people (e.g. Haiti Kid) wrestling on television and in various shows throughout the country. The 1980s provided a new era and movement for professional wrestling as it joined forces with a brand new television network known as Music Television (MTV) to develop two very important events: (1) the Rock-n-Wrestling Connection feat. Musicians and celebrities such as Cindy Lauper, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper, Mr. T and alike to promote the programs and participate in matches and (2) the debut of WrestleMania (which has since the 1980s become the SuperBowl of professional wrestling with record setting crowds – 93,000 strong were in attendance at WrestleMania III). Professional wrestling reached out across all demographics to develop a fan base…among them was my mom.

When I was born, from what my mom tells me, she used to watch wrestling and like superstars like Andre the Giant and as a kid she would allow me to watch wrestling with her. Over the past nineteen years, the viewing of wrestling has expanded within my family to include my mom, myself, my dad, my sister, and even my grandma’s. To this day, there are a few occasions where we all watch wrestling together or at least know about the current roster and storylines. My mom’s fascination with wrestling died out and eventually so did everyone else’s in my family.

Mine did not. I was intrigued and brought into a world where anything was possible – where fantasy and reality are combined, drama can be at an intense high, and dreams can come true.
Growing up with wrestling in my life allowed me to see a multitude of wrestling personalities: the highflyers (The Hardy Boyz, The Motor City Machine Guns, Evan Bourne); the giants of professional wrestling (Big Show, The Great Khali, Hulk Hogan); the ring technicians – with actual amateur wrestling backgrounds (Bret Hart, Kurt Angle); the hardcore icons (Mick Foley, Abyss, Sabu, RVD) the charismatic talkers (“Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Ric Flair, Mr. Anderson); the strong yet beautiful women (Lita, Beth Phoenix, Trish Stratus) and other overall great superstars whom over the years I have called my favorite wrestlers (The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, Edge, Randy Orton, etc.) Although there are so many greats, like the aforementioned, but there has been one other person of great influence in my life who has not only come from the wrestling world but actually created it – Vincent Kennedy McMahon.

To talk about Vince McMahon would make this entry much longer than originally intended. A few particular things to note however is that he had come from a relatively poor upbringing until he met his biological father Vincent J. McMahon (boxing/wrestling promoter) and from there VKM took control of the company, renamed it WWF (changed from WWWF), and expanded this Northeast promotional group throughout the nation conquering over the dozens of wrestling territories with the use of highly paid superstars and national broadcast television. I like to think of Vince McMahon as two different people: Vince McMahon (the self-made millionaire with a heart of gold and Mr. McMahon (the self-made millionaire who will do anything to screw you or anyone else if it is best for his business). Personally, I love both and think highly of Vince McMahon for all that he has accomplished and for the vision this man had which has now taken the wrestling world to new heights. How much do I look up to this 63 year old icon? If I met him it would be like meeting the Pope and getting a hug from Jesus (water works would also most likely be streaming down my face).

In essence, professional wrestling has not only given me time to spend with my family, taken my imagination farther than what the average person may see (I see more than just the average tables, ladders, and chairs), given me many heroes, countless dramatic storylines, and dozens of awe-inspiring matches (most recently Evan Bourne vs. Randy Orton and Motor City Machine Guns vs. Beer Money, Inc. in a best of five series).

You may be wondering why I even decided to write about this? Partially to share the importance of wrestling in my life, partially brought up since Summerslam will be this weekend in Los Angeles (but sadly no money = no tickets) but mostly to introduce a new goal in my life. My new goal: I will not go to ANY wrestling show in town (unless I manage to get floor seats) until I make my way over to the mecca of professional wrestling (Madison Square Garden in NYC) for WrestleMania 30 in 2014.

This means: I will not go to the WWE SmackDown! taping in Portland, Oregon on October 12 because instead I will be saving as much as possible to buy my tickets in 2013 for WrestleMania 30. (I just realized that it will be the perfect graduation present from me to me!)

Have a Raging Day!

2010-08-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

Earlier today my family headed out for a nice relaxing and occasionally thrilling day at the Raging Waters theme park in San Dimas, California.

We arrived at the park late but for a good reason. Being that we are Mexican and this is a recession, the family had to make tortas and load up on food and drinks to put into a cooler and another large carry bag. The food was premade in order to avoid paying for food in the park and was kept outside of the theme park in the picnic areas. Well, by the time we got to the park it had already been open for a while and so we had to deal with all the other late people as we waited to be transported from the parking lot to the park itself. We stored the food and went into the park, changed and whatnot. My mom and grandma did not want to get in and so we began our trip inside by trying to find them seats to relax on during the rest of the day.

Once my mom and grandma were settled, the rest of the family (myself, dad, sis, aunt and her boyfriend) went off to get onto a few of the rides. The first ride of the afternoon was “The Ragin’ Racer” which involved lying on top of a foam mat and racing the rest of your party on a large water slide with various speeds. I should mention, during the wait for the slide, I read the safety precautions and rules the park put up and I could not help but laugh to read at the end of the sign “Have a Raging Day!” If you have read the previous blogs: we have heard the classic “Have a Six Flags Day!” and have developed the “Have an L.A. (or your optional city) Day!” The race itself, well I lost. The reason was that I was at the farthest lane getting ready and never heard the attendant scream go – I was expecting some sort of buzz or something but no so unfortunately I lost the race. The slide was fun though as the water splashed onto my face and for most of the ride blinded me, scaring me for a bit because I thought the slide came to and end only to realize that I was barely halfway down. Quick and easy ride.

We then headed into one of the longest wait times I have ever experienced because of a large amount of people, two lines, and a lifeguard who had no idea how to run the machine to bring up the floating circle rafts that fit up to 5 people in it. The ride was Thunder Rapids – a 500’ long and 14’ wide water slide. After waiting for what felt like an eternity we managed to get on the raft and head down the slide. During the ride I almost lost two things: my aquasocks (fresh from the Raging Water gift store because I didn’t own any sandals) and my sister. The reason for almost losing both on the slide: did not grab onto the raft handles tight enough. I was grasping the aquasocks in my hand while grasping the handles and they almost flew out of the raft. My sister was not prepared for the first turn and so she almost went flying over my aunt’s head, who was sitting on the other side of the raft, but thankfully she managed to grasp the handles and hold on.

You can tell how long the wait time was for the ride because we now headed back to where my mom and grandma were relaxing and decided to leave the park and go to the picnic area for lunch, which had so many bees swarming all over us and made it harder to eat our meal in peace.
Once everyone ate, we headed back into the park sometime around 4 pm and finally managed to get my grandma into one of the pools of water and we spent a good amount of time in there. I got out of the water and just laid down on the beach chairs. My first thought in doing this: now I feel like I am in a relaxing summer vacation.
The rest came to an end and we headed out to get on another slide – Neptune’s Fury, which takes place in total darkness and with freezing water. We were waiting in line and I went to the restroom only to encounter something I never expected in Raging Waters. Someone was smoking pot in the men’s restroom! What? I know! Raging Waters staff was all up in there – probably smoking it as well, allegedly – and trying to get that person (who I never caught a glimpse of) out of the restroom. Can you get high by just walking in the rest room? Maybe that is why I was so relaxed. Anyway Neptune’s Fury was a fun ride as well.

Overall that brings my grand total of rides to: 3 in one day! WOW! The rest of the time was either spent waiting in line for a ride, eating, or just relaxing by a pool.

There is one ride, however, that my dad, sis, aunt and her boyfriend went on which I refused to get on –High Extreme. The height of the structure alone ensured my not going anywhere near that thing. For those who don’t know, I have a fear of heights. It seemed fun but yeah no, that is way too high of a structure for me to start a slide on. Pass.

Want to know what the longest line at Raging Waters was? The line to leave the Park. It began at the main entrance and ended about a mile from there. Everyone was just trying to leave the park as soon as possible with those three trams, used to transport hundreds of people at the end of the day back from the park to the parking lot.

Thankfully, we made it out and I made it home just before the 9 pm mark. Thank God! Because NBC was showing the WrestleMania network television premiere. I totally expected the special to show bits and pieces of the entire 4-hour WWE Superbowl-esque extravaganza but no…it was better they only showed the most important (and heartbreaking) match of WrestleMania XXVI: The Streak vs. Career – The Undertaker (17 -0 WrestleMania streak; similar to winning 17 straight Super Bowl’s) and Shawn Michaels (a 20+ illustrious career). Thank you NBC for that wonderful end to an overall great day!

Hope you all had a Raging Day!

Two weeks until I return to Portland = )

My Bowling Game? Let's not even go there.

2010-08-06T22:51:00.000-07:00

Excuse the hiatus but as I have said in previous posts…summer does not offer much to write about so for more stories and thoughts you just have to wait for my return to Portland, in about two weeks!

Today, I went out with family friends Tere, Alex, and Abby. Tere and Alex are two teenage kids of family friends whom I have grown up with. Together along with my sister our lives have been very closely intertwined as we have shared many memories together since they were each born (I am the oldest of all). Abby is their younger sister who is as energetic as they come. If you have had the pleasure to meet Abby then you know what I am talking about. She is just a talkative ball of energy that makes you feel lucky if you can even make it through one single day without using much of your stored energy.

Anyway, we went bowling today in Glendale and had a great time playing two games thanks to their mom who offered to treat us for the day. The first game Alex came in first and I came in third. Who came in second? Abby. (Don’t tell her she was using the barriers along the lanes to ensure she scored each time). Second game of bowling…well, it’s best to just not mention that at all. Not my strongest game although if you have gone bowling with me you know by now two things about my bowling game: 1) I suck and 2) I have occasional moments of good luck in which I either continue to hit spares or strikes (that is what happened during the first game, second game not so much).

By the way, Abby was adorable while playing the game because of two things she did during each of her turns to bowl. First off, Abby does not throw the ball down the lane – she drops it on the floor and it bounces off the barricades and slowly (very slowly) makes it to the pins and knocks a few down. Second, once a few pins have been knocked down she feels like she is on top of the world as after each turn she would give high fives to everyone simply because she knocked a few pins down. A-dorable!

Following the bowling game we headed out to grab a quick bite to eat. I ended up enjoying a healthy 9-grain wheat turkey breast and black forest ham 6” sandwich. Again, as has occurred throughout the summer, I have gotten a lot of negative or strange reactions for my recent change in eating habits. Yes, over the summer, I have attempted to lose weight and eat in a more healthy manner in order to combat something I have dealt with for years, primarily my weight and risk of so many family health issues. Over the summer, I have been called out by family and some friends about my eating smaller portions and drinking only water but to them I continue to say back off and let me do my thing. What I do has worked as I have not only lost about 20 pounds (probably from my head/ego) and I feel I am in somewhat better shape. This is something I will continue to struggle with for the rest of my life, especially considering that I am at heart as you know a foodie, but I have made great strides over the summer and I fully intend to continue the change toward a better health and it would be nice to get more support rather than comments regarding about how I appear to not eat. I do eat, just not the average (by which I mean large) portions that the average American eats today.

Moving on, following this meal we headed over to their house and then back to my house where both families came together for some pizza, popcorn, and fruit salad for the weekly Friday night Movie Night. Tonight’s feature presentation was “The Back-up Plan” starring Jenny from the Block. (Not that great of a movie but I would suggest you watch the strange birthing pool scene because it was pretty funny). Now that the two families have gone their separate ways for the evening my family continues the movie night with the recent “Karate Kid” starring one of my new favorite actresses, Taraji P. Henson.

Once the movie ends, it will be time to prepare for tomorrow’s trip to Raging Waters thanks to my aunt and her boyfriend. I have not been there in years so I hope it is fun!

Hope you are having a fantastic summer!

Have an L.A. Day!

2010-08-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, with my mom and sister gone for a baby shower and my dad back from work but too exhausted to do anything I had nothing to do but sit at home and watch TV (BTW, saw "Freedom Writers" on MTV and was once again inspired to teach). However, I was happy to receive a message from my best friend Amir who asked if I wanted to join him, Sam, and Narekt to pick up Sam's dad from the airport. Amir picked me up at 5:43 pm (why is this so important? because Amir was actually 2 minutes early! Moment in history!)

We headed to Sam's house and waited for the arrival of the one and only...Narek. And we waited...and waited...I stuffed myself with grapes...and oh, its Narek! (In case you wanted to know, Narek was late because he was sent by his family to go buy some nails at Home Depot).

Before heading to the airport, we headed to Chili's for dinner. Along the way, we were on a two lane road and stopped right next to this older (probably Puerto Rican) woman in a pick-up truck who was playing loud music and was dancing in her car. We pretty much encouraged her to continue but Narek drove off, speeding past the older woman. Continued on the road...what in the world? This old woman just passed Narek on the road! She was gloating about it! She sang, she danced, we cried tears of laughter, and she began waving her hands out the window saying no and pointing her thumbs down. It was hilarious that this old woman actually did this to Narek! He will never live it down.

So we went to Chili's, placed our order, and waited....and waited. Sam's dad was due to land at 8:45 and now it was past 8:00 pm and our food was still not ready. Finally with about half an hour to go, our food was delivered and we had to pretty much eat as fast as possible to make sure we made it in time to LAX. (I recommend the Guiltless Grilled Chicken Sandwich!) During the course of dinner, Amir came up with a great idea for his not-blog (themonotype.wordpress.com). His idea is to interview the always entertaining Narek. I dont think I have seen Amir so excited about something in a while but know that it is coming within the next few weeks on his not-blog site.

On the way to LAX, Narek introduced us to the videos of Nardwaur (go on youtube and watch his interview with Pharell). Nardwaur just left me in utter amazement so you should definitely watch his interviews - even if he is Canadian.

With time to kill because Sam's dad would still have to go through customs and all that so we waited for him at the exit. But after waiting for a while, Amir and I decided to kill some time wandering around the airport. Where we discovered the true price of a welcome back present. Just look at the price of the roses. Ridiculous. A single rose - $7.29.

After wandering the airport, Amir and I greeted those who recently got off their planes and were looking for their loved ones. So we gave out some high-fives (except I refused to give a high-five to one guy wearing a Mexican sombrero...obviously he was a drunk white college guy) and started to talk to a few of the travellers (including some Canadians from Vancouver, BC - shout out!) We offered our sincerest hopes for their trips by shouting out to all the travellers to "Have an LA day!" (a spin-off of the popular "Have a Six Flags Day!")

Finally, Amir and I caught first glimpse of Sam's dad and we immediately started shouting "Daddy!" Sam, Narek, Amir, and I raced to meet him and we each gave him a hug and welcomed him back after suffering for five weeks in Mexico (you don't want to know what he suffered from - Trust). My first question: "What did you bring me?" Like a good father, because I do consider him my second dad, he said he brought t-shirts for each of us from Mexico. So after we received our souveniers and getting in the car, we headed back to Sam's house and attempted to catch up on all that he missed while he was gone (including all the important news about Lindsay Lohan, Mel Gibson, etc.)

We dropped Sam's dad off at the house and headed out for a late snack at Denny's. Unfortunately, the waitress did not recognize Amir, even though he has been there so many times. (I recommend the hearty wheat pancakes) After talking for a bit and eating we headed back to Sam's house and said goodbye.

On the road back to my house, Amir and I argued about the person who I feel has been getting in the way of our bromance with all the inappropriate hugging and such...Narek. That's right, I get jealous when I see Narek and Amir hug goodbye for so long. Narek, I got my eyes on you!

Thus came the end of another good day in my life with friends and my second family.

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Reader assignment: Tell someone to "Have a (insert city name) day!"

The Wonders of a Farmers Market

2010-07-30T16:43:00.000-07:00

Original plans today were scheduled to be a meet up with two of my very best friends. I was supposed to meet Larissa in the early afternoon and Amir later in the evening. Unfortunately, because of personal issues both meetings were cancelled : (

But looking at the positive side of things, I was returning with my sister from Pasadena Community College today when I made a detour at the library. Little did I realize that it was Friday and that Eagle Rock hosted its weekly Farmers Market, which I had never attended. We got there way too early but we were both amazed by the sights of the food and amazing aromas of the delicious fruit. I was absolutely floored when this one woman told me to actually try some of the grapes before I bought them. I was so sold on the grapes.

My sister managed to buy a small basket of strawberries for $2, meanwhile my grapes cost only $1.30. Farmers Markets are not only cost effective but so delicious, not to mention organic and for someone who has become more health conscious recently this was such a treat.

Health conscious that is until my eyes laid on something so perfect that it was almost a scene out of a movie (OMG, is he talking about a person he saw at the Farmers Market?) My eyes laid on a large bag of kettle corn. (Oh thats right he is a foodie and loves to eat. That was anticlimactic.) It was large, thick and expensive (wait, what is he talking about now?) This was where most of the money - my sister's, to be precise - went for it cost a total of $7.

I'm not kidding by the way about how large it is. I decided once I got home to take a picture of Princess standing next to the bag. And well:

In the end, I learned how important Farmers Markets are and how everyone should attend them more often to get a vast amount of delicious healthy food and at a relatively low price...and to buy giant bags of kettle corn.

Get off the road...

2010-07-27T21:33:00.000-07:00

Because I can officially drive (with someone 18 yrs. or older) with my permit.

Passed it on the first try! (Dont ask how many I got wrong though).

That is really the only important thing to really mention. : )

Bieber dreams in Mexico

2010-07-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

What a strange title you say? Well read on and you will find out the connection.

Friday evening I asked (forced?) Sam to create a TokBox account and to test it out with me. Thankfully, it worked and I managed to talk to one of my best friends in the whole world for over two hours. If you read the last post you read that I was going to have Family Movie Night but when the Family part of it falls asleep during the first movie ("Book of Eli" by the way) then the whole thing gets cancelled. During the last hour or so of our TokBox chat, we began reading Facebook posts by a "mutual friend" (as FB likes to say). Being as close as we are, we began to read one of the posts at the exact same time - in a Justin Bieber voice (essentially it was a high pitch squeal - thanks TMZ!)

Continuing on with the trend of doing the same thing at the exact same time, well here is what happened (BTW, poor innocent Maisha was caught in the crossfire):

The conversation came to an end soon after but fear not because I got to spend Saturday night with Sam, Amir, and Narek...this time to go see the much hyped "Inception." I wont ruin the ending but it was ok in that the story did play mind games (which I enjoy) but I felt I was watching "Shutter Island" again with a somewhat similar role for Leo. Shout outs though to Joseph Gordon Levitt and Ellen Page! Speaking of Ellen Page, earlier in the month Sam, Amir and I attended a taping of "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" (my third taping) and the special guest was Ellen Page who is so small it was amazing. Anyway, the movie was ok but what really got me fired up was not the ending but Amir touching my totem (my lucky dollar - some of you have seen it)! How will I ever know if I am dreaming now?!

I think "Inception" overall went a bit too long and Leo should just stick to staying in other people's dreams...mainly mine. Lol.

Sunday, was a pretty simple day with attendance at mass and then heading to Mexico (not the Mexico, Amir refers to which is one of my favorite restaurants "Guelaguetza" but rather Plaza Mexico). I would post photos of the place but I sadly forgot my camera. It was fun though because the architecture of the place, pretty much an outdoor mall, resembles the streets and shopping centers of Mexico. There were performances by Indians (I would be specific but I dont even know what group it was), live music and dancing, and food. I really enjoyed being there with the family even though it is about half an hour from downtown L.A.

Once I came back to the house I realized that I already received the list of my Orientation Home Base Group students so I decided to call them up - only two answered. Fail. It's cool though because I realize I called them pretty late and who answers their phone from a strange number on a Sunday night. I will get to them one way or another though...but I do have a deadline so it would help me out if they answered soon.

From Bieber imitating to dreaming with Leo and visiting Mexico (Plaza Mexico) it was a very good weekend with family and friends (second family).

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Forced wake-up, waiting, and wait...we have to go back!

2010-07-23T18:56:00.000-07:00

First of all, we do have a family dog that is really more my sister's dog, her name is Princess in case no one has met her yet. She is a small Pekingese dog that is over two years old and is often in so much need of attention (if you look up their history they are actually considered royalty in China). I love her so much but do you know how it feels to be sound asleep and all of a sudden wake up to this little munchkin somehow in your room trying to take up your bed?

Well my sister and my mom had to go to Pasadena Community College to deal with something about finances for the upcoming school year. Guess who had to watch her while they were gone! Exactly...I was stuck doggysitting even though I was still asleep. I should tell you Princess here, does not allow you to just sleep because she likes to stretch and take up as much of the bed as possible forcing you to get out of it and ultimately wake up.

By the time my mom and sister returned a few hours later we went to the mechanic. The one place where "one hour" really means "come back about two hours later and we will barely be finished with it." Side note: it is funny to listen to the Mexican mechanics talking about English-speaking customers right in front of them. Even funnier - hearing the English-speaking customer attempt to speak Spanish to the mechanic (who understands English just fine)!

Rather than returning straight home we made a small pit stop at Yogurt Haven in Eagle Rock. (Fun fact: I am terrible at choosing things such as what to eat and clothes/shoes; imagine how hard this was!) I ended up getting a Banana Split frozen yogurt with nuts and pineapples, bananas, marshmallows. So good.

I had made plans to meet with one of my best friends (and bromance partner) Amir. I managed to make it home on time back to meet with Amir and take a walk to a skate shop in Eagle Rock and once again to Yogurt Haven (oh no, another decision!). This time I chose a Strawberry Banana frozen yogurt with pretty much the same toppings as I had done about an hour prior to this visit. Cashier must have thought I was a fatty...which I am at heart, no doubt.

Amir and I talked for a bit in Yogurt Haven before beginning to head back home...until I made a pit stop at the local video store to rent "Green Zone" and "The Book of Eli" for tonight's family movie night. For some reason we decided to walk to Target (pronounced Tar-jay). Spent a few minutes checking out the deals on movies and clothes. Headed to the cashier...oh Amir wants to go back to see the clothes? Now that he looked at some jeans, headed back to cashier...wait, Amir wants to check again.

NOW that he is done checking out the clothes we decided to head to the cashier and buy some Vitamin Water...wait, this time I need to go back and change my Vitamin Water to Vitamin Water Zero (not only is it zero calories but what if it has more vitamins?).

On the way back to my place, Amir made a realization: he was missing his keys! We had to go back and retrace our steps to find the keys! Were they in Target, the video store, or Yogurt Haven?! We decided to check first the video store which was closer and it seemed to be a complete failure. That is until the clerk asked: "What brand are they?" He pulled out the keys from a drawer and thankfully we did not have to walk back all the way to Target.

We walked back home and thus came the end to another wonderful day with my best friend! (Parting is such sweet sorrow).

Tonight's plans: Family movie night : )

Summer Planning: Portland Bound

2010-07-22T14:21:00.000-07:00

I realize a blog should not just be a place for me to talk about the entertainment news that is going and to offer personal comments on the events and people but for right now I don't have too much to write about my personal life with occasional events every now and then but things will pick up once I head back to the University of Portland in mid-August.

Here are a few things that I can mention so far about the upcoming school year:

I am an Orientation Assistant and will have the chance to move in to Shipstad on August 22nd. From the 22nd through the 25th, I will be attending training sessions as required by the position. I am so excited to be with the freshmen! Everytime I think about Orientation it makes me just want to leave now and start helping out.

During the summer, I have been working alongside Jillian Smith, Hillary White, Justine Roades, and Kristina Large to plan Homecoming 2010 (which for UP Students information will be on October 2nd at the Melody Ballroom with the theme of "Purple Rain.") We have also been planning the on-campus Homecoming week festivities, on which great progress has been made.

I will have two jobs at UP: Office of Student Activities Publicity Assistant (posting signs and flyers and updating the events calendar in the Pilot House) and Sacristan in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher.

Another role that I officially have for next year is Shipstad Hall Retreat Leader, which is currently being planned for a date TBA (most likely Feb.-Mar.) I hope to later get as well a position in the Shipstad Hall Council (vote for me if I do!)

Academics-wise: I will have six classes (including the often intimidating Bib. Trad. with Dempsey) and will get to continue with Education field experience (allowing me to work with an assigned teacher in the Portland area, interact with kids and learn by observing teachers).

Something else that is definitely not a secret is that I have been having trouble getting money to pay off college and so have had to get loans for myself and my family, for the second year in a row. This has been a difficult option for myself and my family but it is one we have been willing to get for me to continue at the University of Portland. It is a major sacrifice and this may be my final year in Portland unless I can find the funding to pay off my third and fourth year. So I assure all of you that this year I will try to do everything possible to ensure that if this is indeed my last year I will not regret it at all.

But this is all for mid-August. All I can do now is wait for the summer vacation to end meanwhile finding some ways to buy textbooks and my flight to Portland, read more books (sorry to burst your bubble but they are mostly autobiographies of pro-wrestlers), and spend some time with all of my friends and family in L.A. (from Sam, Amir, Narek, Larissa - who I cant wait to return from Canada, and a few others).

I REALLY CANT WAIT TO GO BACK TO PORTLAND!!! PILOTS 'TIL I DIE!

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Reader Assignment: Ask someone if they would like to have an awkward pause in a conversation with you.

Guess What?!

2010-07-20T19:23:00.000-07:00

I have a blog! But why, you ask?

The purpose of this blog will be a place for me to simply talk about my life, my views, and something I know a lot about...pop culture. In fact, I say we start with the pop culture news and my thoughts on all the events going down in Hollywood.

Also, the purpose of this blog is because my instincts told me and it was either this or Twitter - blog wins!

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IN THE NEWS TODAY:

Lindsay Lohan has been sent to jail for 23 days! But I doubt the number of days she will be in there...you know she will be there for only two weeks. Personally, I think this is the best thing for Lindsay so I dont want to really mock her and I truly hope this teaches her a lesson she won't forget. Maybe they should throw the whole Lohan family in there (makes for great TV)!

In case you have not heard! Our prayers have been answered! The Jersey Shore Cast's strike is over! Everyone will be back, except someone named Angelina (whoever that is). I have yet to watch an episode of The Jersey Shore but I am willing to start watching and get my fist pump on. Thankfully, I will be able to watch for the next few seasons to come - obviously God (Oprah) is watching. By the way, has everyone heard that each member of the cast is getting paid $10,000 per episode...thats some serious BS but I guess Snooki is just that talented.

Speaking of shows I have yet to watch, Glee. I have avoided watching the entire season of Glee but now I think I may have found the only time I will watch, the Britney episode that is in the works for season two.

Mel Gibson...readers, did he not just make you forget about the Oil Spill? Mel is a good distraction for BP because that's all people are talking about. Those "alleged" tapes of Mel are understandable, who would someone choose sleep over pleasuring Mel? (I hope we can all agree that sleep is WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY better).

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Readers, I also invite you to please send a message to your senator to repeal DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell) policy. All you have to do is go to hrc.org. Fill out the requested information and simple as that. The only reason the policy was passed originally is because the politicians were screaming louder to implement it because they know they are wrong in passing it.

This marks the end of the first post - good bye!

* I should also mention the name of the blog is courtesy of my best friend/bromance partner, Amir.